Nosce te Ipsum
by rayemars
Summary: Mokuba and Seto on the night of their adopted father's death.


Disclaimer: Yu-Gi-Oh belongs to Kazuki Takahashi, and various other magazines and TV stations.

For anyone who doesn't know, Seto killed his abusive adopted father, Gozaburo Kaiba, by pushing him out the window (manga), or giving him a heart attack by threatening to push him out the window (anime). This story is based off the former.

However, I have yet to get my hands on the manga-stupid Shonen Jump not coming out until November-so this is based only on facts I've gleaned off of a few websites. I apologize for any inconsistencies with the comic. This title means "know thyself" in Latin, and Mokuba' name, I've been told, means "wooden horse."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mokuba picked his way across the darkened wing of the mansion, taking care to walk near the edge of the hallway and not run into anything. He didn't want one of the guards to find him and send him back to his room. 

He had woken up a few minutes ago with a bad feeling in his stomach, not a sick kind of feeling but a scary kind, and he didn't want to be alone in the dark. So he was heading for his big brother's room.

He made it to the opposite end of the hall without tripping or running into any security, and he knocked very lightly, barely tapping the wood. After a minute, there was no answer and he was beginning to feel nervous standing out in the hallway, so he opened Seto's door slowly. The hinges were too well-oiled to squeak, but Seto had taught him that caution was always necessary. 

Mokuba slipped through and shut the door just as quietly, making sure to keep the knob turned until it was closed, so the lock wouldn't make a noise when it slid in. He pushed the door against the frame to make sure it was shut, and the lock clicked in the silence. Mokuba tensed for a second, but then remembered that everything was okay; he was in Seto's room now, so he was safe. The bad feeling was gone.

"Big brother?" he whispered. It was darker in here than it had been in out in the hall, but his eyes soon adjusted to the moonlight that seeped through the curtains. The room was empty.

Mokuba frowned. If Seto wasn't here, then he would be with their adopted father, and....

He wrapped his arms around himself, and wondered if he should try to go back to his own room. Seto hated for anyone to see him after his "training" sessions, and the thought of causing his brother unhappiness made Mokuba take a step toward the door. But outside, he might get caught by one of the guards, and then Gozaburo would ground him and lock him in his room.

Mokuba chewed his lip as he thought. Finally he came to a decision, and climbed onto Seto's bed, curling up on top of the blanket.

Several minutes later, he was just growing drowsy when the sound of the doorknob turning jolted him awake. His first instinct was to hide behind the opposite side of the bed, but the silhouette in the door belonged to Seto, not Gozaburo. Mokuba exhaled in relief.

Seto's head jerked up. "Who's there?" he demanded.

"It's me, big brother," Mokuba answered, sitting up. "It was too dark in my room," he apologized.

Seto was still for a moment, then shut the door. "That's okay," he said. It sounded like he had made a motion to turn on the light, but then stopped and walked to the bathroom instead. He switched on the light farthest inside so the room was only dimly lit, then walked out to check the curtains.

Mokuba's eyes widened as he watched him. Seto was pale, more than usual, and he had a strange look on his face. As he walked around the bed again, Mokuba couldn't help pulling his legs up to his chest. He'd never been afraid of his big brother before, but now there was something dark in his eyes, something more than the other shadows that had been growing there since Kaiba had taken them from the orphanage. The feeling in the bottom of his stomach was creeping back.

Seto noticed his movement, and it did something to the older boy. The strange look on his face went away, and he looked tired instead--tired and kind of like he felt sick himself. He stared at his hands for a minute, before sitting down on the bed, facing the opposite wall.

"Mokuba," he said quietly, not looking at him, "I'll always take care of you. No matter what."

He unfolded his legs and crawled over to where Seto was sitting. "I know, big brother. You promised me, remember? I know you meant it."

Seto placed an arm around Mokuba's shoulders and gave him a brief hug, but didn't say anything else. He was still staring at the wall.

Mokuba leaned against him. "Seto, what's wrong?"

That seemed to snap his brother out of wherever he'd been. Seto looked down at him, that new darkness in his eyes fading as he smiled at his little brother. "Nothing," he answered. "We're going to be fine from now on."

~~~~~

Half an hour later, Seto had showered and climbed onto the bed. Mokuba had talked him into reciting one of his favorite stories, about the Greeks and the Trojans and the Wooden Horse. Seto enjoyed telling it, and sometimes Mokuba pretended that he was named after the Greek's gift, and that he would be Seto's biggest help when he got to be a little older and stronger. Mokuba was curled inside his arm, listening as Seto described how the Trojans had broken down part of their city walls so the Horse would fit through the gate, when the security guards burst in. Seto stiffened, but before he could say anything, the men were talking.

"They're both in the older boy's room," one man barked into his headset while the other glanced out the curtains before turning to the two of them.

"Did either of you hear anything in the past hour?" he asked.

"No," Seto answered. "What's going on?"

The second security man-Mokuba thought his name was Suekichi-actually fidgeted. The first had disappeared back out the door, and was either still on his headset or talking to another person, going by the sound drifting down the hall.

"I have bad news for you two," Suekichi began. "I'm afraid Mr. Kaiba had an accident." Seto sat up, bringing Mokuba with him. "It appears that he fell through a window in the upper story," he continued. "We've got ambulances on the way, but they haven't arrived yet." He shrugged.

Seto's arm was tense around him. Mokuba didn't know how his big brother's voice could be so calm when his muscles were so tight. "Will he be all right?" Seto asked. In the distance, the faint sounds of sirens were approaching.

The guard hesitated again, before answering: "He'll need a miracle. The injuries are extensive, and he's unconscious." He paused for a moment to let that sink in, then continued. "I need to ask where you were the past two hours."

Seto's arm, which had relaxed slightly when Suekichi described the damage to their adopted father, was rigid again. Mokuba answered before he even really thought about it.

"We've been here," he said. Both Seto and the guard stared at him. The siren's wailing had grown louder.

"Both of you?" Suekichi asked. Mokuba nodded, and a second later Seto answered, "Yes."

"Good," the man replied. The first guard, who Mokuba couldn't name, came back in.

"Front gate admitted the ambulance and the police," he said shortly.

Suekichi nodded. "They've been here for the time," he told him. The first guard nodded, and disappeared again. He turned back to the brothers.

"You're going to have to talk to the police," he said, "so you should put on your regular clothes. It'll take a few hours."

"I don't have anything in here," Mokuba told him as he and Seto slipped off the bed.

"I'll walk you back," Suekichi replied. He barked a name into the headset, then gave an order to watch Seto's room. Soon, a third guard entered. Mokuba didn't remember his name either.

He shot a last glance at Seto, who had pulled a shirt and pants out of the closet and dropped them on the bathroom counter. He glanced up and gave Mokuba an encouraging smile, before shutting the door. The third guard stood against the wall, arms crossed.

"Come on," Suekichi said, taking Mokuba's arm. "You need to be dressed before the police get up here. They'll want to talk to you and your brother first."

~~~~~

Several hours later, the Kaiba mansion had been turned upside down. Police, security, paramedics, and any members of the press who could slip past the guards had all stormed through the building. Seto had remained sturdily calm the entire time, even when the news came that Gozaburo had died before they could get him onto the ambulance.

When the police asked him what he and Seto had been doing for the past two hours, Mokuba wasn't sure what to say, so he mostly stuck with the truth--that Seto had been telling him bedtime stories, because he didn't want to sleep in his own room.

When he'd started pinching himself in order to keep his eyes open, the officer decided that the rest of the questions could wait until tomorrow. Mokuba then curled up in a chair in a small den, hidden away from the rest of the noise, while Seto took care of everything else. Two of their lawyers had shown up not long after the ambulance, and most of the paparazzi had left then. A new guard, who was standing in front of the door to the den, had chased away a reporter for the Domino City News, but that was all. Most everybody was focused on Seto, not him.

Mokuba wasn't sure how long he'd slept in the chair, but the next time he woke up, his neck hurt, Seto was carrying him up the stairs, and the hall was lighter.

His brother looked exhausted. "I can walk," Mokuba told him. Seto put him down, and they headed silently for his bedroom. Downstairs, most of the noise that had been present all night was gone, and only the sound of the guards and the house servants remained.

Seto tucked him in, saying, "You don't have school today, that's been taken care of. So just get some sleep." He paused. "You shouldn't have lied."

Mokuba sat up, but Seto continued. "You could get into a lot of trouble if they find out you did. You know that, right?"

Mokuba nodded. "I know you'll always protect me, big brother. But I'm watching out for you too."

Seto gazed at him, and for the first time that evening, the darkness in his eyes disappeared completely as he hugged Mokuba. "Good night," he said, ruffling his hair. Then he turned out the light and left.

Mokuba curled into a ball and dragged the covers over his head. Sunlight was beginning to leak in through the curtains.


End file.
